Robotic surgical systems have been used in minimally invasive medical procedures. Although robotic surgical systems provide many benefits such as increased accuracy and expediency, one drawback is a lack of or limited force feedback. Independent of surgical training, force feedback enables more precise dissection with lower applied forces and fewer errors.
Some robotic surgical systems include a console supporting a robot arm, and at least one end effector such as forceps or a grasping tool that is mounted to the robot arm via a wrist assembly. During a medical procedure, the end effector and the wrist assembly are inserted into a small incision (via a cannula) or a natural orifice of a patient to position the end effector at a work site within the body of the patient.
Connector members such as cables extend from the robot console, through the robot arm, and are connected to the wrist assembly and/or end effector. In some instances, the connector members are actuated by means of motors that are controlled by a processing system including a user interface for a surgeon or clinician to be able to control the robotic surgical system including the robot arm, the wrist assembly and/or the end effector.
Generally, these connector members have limited lifespans and a tendency to fail or become un-usable after a certain number of uses, which may vary, depending upon the duration and/or stress each use imposes on these connector members.